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Mammoth cops bust 17-year-old in robbery case

A 17-year-old Mammoth resident is facing robbery charges after allegedly holding up a pair of 12-year-old skateboarders at a bus stop.

The suspect, whose name was not released by the MLPD, was taken to the Juvenile Detention Facility in Independence following his arrest.

According to a news release distributed by the MLPD, the crime occurred on Saturday, March 23.

The victims were waiting at the stop in front of the Mammoth Lakes Rite Aid when the suspect approached and demanded money and threatened to take their skateboards if they didn’t comply.

In fear of the 17-year-old suspect, they gave him cash. The victims recognized the suspect as a local resident, but didn’t know his name. The victims also told the officers that the suspect had gone into the Rite Aid store after the robbery.

Rite Aid Loss Prevention Officer Samuel Ruiz assisted by providing officers access to the store’s security video. Given the description of the suspect, Ruiz immediately identified him from prior contacts and cued the video to show the suspect walking into the store at the time the victims reported he entered.
SRO Lehr recognized the suspect as a student and knew his name from multiple prior contacts.

The suspect was further identified by the victims through a photo line-up and by accessing data from the GPS monitoring device he was wearing as a condition of his probation for prior arrests.